Aftermath
by Tanguay18
Summary: One night chaos erupts at a scene and lands one of the CSIs in the hospital. Will this be the end of his CSI career? Your eyes do not deceive you...this story is back and it is now complete!
1. A Shot Rang Out Into the Night

**Disclaimer: **Of course I still don't own CSI...if I did we all know Ecklie would be gone ;).

**Aftermath**

**Chapter One**

A few days after the team had been split, the new graveyard shift was understandably stressed out. Grissom, Sara and Greg had to take on a case together. Grissom hadn't wanted to use three people on one case, it was a relatively simple case, but Greg needed Grissom's supervision and Grissom would need experienced help from Sara. It helped that it was a slow night and there was an easy case for Sophia to work solo. There had been a hit and run on the strip, a portion of the street was roped off as the trio of CSIs arrived on the scene. The usual crowd of curious onlookers, most likely tourists, were gathered around the edges of the scene. Grissom shook his head, he could never understand why common people were so fascinated with crime scenes. It was part of the slowing down to look at a car accident phenomenon, but he never quite grasped what people saw in it. Of course for him, it was a part of his job, but these were people on vacation wasting their time to stare at a bloody street. The victim had already been whisked away to the hospital. All that was left was a bit of broken glass, blood and hopefully some further evidence that would help them out.

"Greg, you start taking photos, Sara, look for evidence," Grissom directed, already certain that this was going to be a long night. He gazed warily at the crowd surrounding the crime tape and wished they all had something better to do than to stare at him and his fellow CSIs as they worked.

"Hey Gris, come look at this," Sara called from behind Grissom.

"What have you got?" Grissom asked.

At that moment, a shot rang out into the night. Grissom and Sara both jumped up and scanned the surrounding area quickly. The police officers present at the scene pulled their weapons and tried to figure out the source of the gunfire. The crowd just stood, like deer in headlights. Another shot rang out and this time Sara sprang into action.

"Everybody get down! Hit the ground," she screamed at the gawking crowd.

Grissom joined her, "Everyone, hit the ground!"

They both dove to the pavement as several more shots broke into the night. From behind them they heard a sort of strangled yelp. Suddenly, they both realized that Greg was behind them, and they whirled around to find him laying on his back, visibly pale already. Sara's hands began to shake as she carefully crawled toward him, realizing he had been shot. Grissom reached Greg's body first, noting two bullet holes in his chest. Judging by the location of both shots, they were close to his heart, and had likely pierced the young man's lung.

"He's got a pulse, weak, but there," Grissom started.

"His breathing's raggedy," Sara stated, her voice shaky.

"That officer over there already radioed for help," Grissom hugged the pavement as another bullet pierced the night.

"God, what's happening?" Sara whimpered from the other side of Greg.

"I don't know," Grissom sounded a little frightened himself.

Greg sucked in a shaky breath, then spoke in a tiny, pain-filled voice, "What happened?"

"Greg," Sara sat up cautiously, "you were shot twice, help is on the way."

Greg moaned, "It hurts…to breathe."

"Just lay still, don't speak," Grissom instructed.

Greg nodded his head weakly and closed his eyes. A gurgling sound came from inside Greg's throat and blood started to come out of his mouth.

"Oh my God," Sara breathed.

Grissom quickly rolled Greg on his side, explaining to an alarmed Sara, "He'll choke to death if I don't."

All the while, police officers had massed and ran across the street to a parking lot. They had determined the source of all the shots was a darkened parking lot across from the crime scene. Ambulances arrived on the scene and Greg, Grissom and Sara were all separated and examined. Grissom kept trying to tell the paramedics that he was unharmed, it was not his own blood on his hands. They insisted on checking him over anyway. They released him and he spotted Sara standing by herself, looking very upset.

"Sara, are you okay?" Grissom asked.

"Physically I'm fine," she answered, "I'm just scared. I've never been shot at before."

Grissom stared into her eyes, they reflected deep fear and worry, "I'm calling Sophia to help me on this crime scene."

"What about me? I'm still here, I can help you," Sara was confused.

"Sara, listen to me, you are not in the right frame of mind to be out in the field right now. The best place for you to be is at the hospital. I want you to go there and be there for Greg if he needs someone. I'm not up for argument on this one, I want you at the hospital," Grissom said calmly.

Sara looked slightly angry, but said, "Okay. If that's what you want."

"And Sara," Grissom called as she had turned to leave.

"Yeah," she turned back.

Grissom pulled her into a quick hug, a move that caught her off guard. He was not the hugging type, particularly not in public.

"I just wanted to try and comfort you, I can tell you're very upset," Grissom said awkwardly.

"Thanks," Sara whispered quietly.

Grissom watched as Sara walked away. Lately, it almost felt as the entire world was testing him somehow, trying to see how much he could take before he broke down. His team, the team that had been together for years, was split up. Now, his lab-tech turned CSI-in-training had been shot at a crime scene. They didn't even know where the bullets had come from. It was a chaotic moment, several bullets ringing out into the dark night. No one quite sure where they were coming from. Grissom couldn't believe how calmly he was reacting. He knew he should be more upset than this, but he wasn't. He wasn't sure what was going on with himself anymore.

A/N: I actually started writing before Mea Culpa, but changed the beginning a little bit. I had no idea what to call this story, so the title may or may not change. Also, this week is finals week for me, I don't have one tomorrow, so I'm not skipping studying right now or anything ;). But don't expect another update until probably this weekend. Then I'm home for a month.


	2. Two Bullets to the Chest

**Disclaimer: **Of course I still don't own CSI...if I did we all know Ecklie would be gone ;).

**Aftermath**

**Chapter Two**

Sara sat alone in a hard plastic chair in the emergency waiting room. She sat, lost in thought for an unknown amount of time. When she arrived, they had been getting ready to take Greg up to surgery. That's all she knew, he had been taken to surgery. She had no idea how long she sat there, by herself. It could have been hours or only minutes. Time seemed to have lost all meaning for her.

"Is that seat taken?" a familiar voice broke into her thoughts.

"Nick!" Sara jumped up, happy to see her friend.

"I heard about what happened, called Grissom. He said you were here alone, so I figured you could use some company," Nick explained.

"I'm so glad you're here," Sara smiled .

"How's Greg doing?" Nick asked.

"I don't know, it didn't look great," Sara answered solemnly, "two bullets in the chest, near his heart."

"Damn," Nick cursed softly as the pair sank down on the chairs.

Sara looked over at Nick, she could feel her chin begin to quiver. She silently cursed herself for losing it now. She couldn't have cried when she was all alone, no way, she had to do it in front of Nick. She hated to cry in front of people, it made her seem weak.

"Ah Sara," Nick spotted a tear slipping down her cheek, "come here."

Sara leaned readily into his open arms. She didn't even try to fight the tears now, she just buried her face on his shoulder and cried. It actually felt pretty good to let her tears out.

"You know the stupid part of this? I am very upset and worried about Greg, but I was afraid for my own life too. I'm so selfish," Sara sniffled.

"What? Sara, no," Nick started, "it's normal to worry about yourself. I know personally that it's very scary to have a gun pointed at you. Your case is a little different, but you had reason to be afraid that you might get shot. It's an entirely normal reaction."

"I still feel bad for even thinking about myself," Sara sighed.

"Let me tell you something," Nick said seriously, Sara pulling away to see his face, "Sara Sidle, you are one of the _least_ selfish people I know. You have a big heart, you are always worried about other people. You are not at all a bad person."

Sara let a small smile shine through, "You really think that?"

"Yeah, I do," Nick brushed some of the tears off her face.

"So," Sara suddenly felt the need to change the subject, "how is it working swing shift?"

"It's not bad. It's hard to get used to the different time. And it's weird not working with you, Grissom and Greg," Nick said.

"I miss the old nightshift crew," Sara sighed, "I had the feeling we'd be losing Catherine, she wanted to be supervisor for dayshift, but losing you and Warrick too. It's just not fair."

"Well if any of us ever wondered why Grissom hates Ecklie so much, we now know first hand that the guy's a…uh, never mind that," Nick caught himself before saying something really nasty in front of Sara. He didn't know why he all of the sudden felt the need to keep his vocabulary clean in front of her, he just did.

"I wish Ecklie had never been promoted," Sara frowned, "who would have guessed he'd tear us apart. Sophia's nice enough, but between her, Grissom and I, there's a lot of work. Greg still has to have his hand held basically. It really hurt to have 3 CSIs taken away and only one brought in to fill the void."

"I bet. Good news is, Catherine seems to be handling the new job well," Nick explained, "she says there's a heck of a lot more paperwork than she ever thought possible though."

"I wouldn't do well with paperwork, I'd always be forgetting stuff," Sara shook her head, "I don't see how Grissom does it. Ecklie, I could buy, he doesn't get the science part of it."

"How has Greg been doing, by the way?" Nick asked suddenly.

"He has been doing a pretty good job. He's almost ready for his first proficiency test," Sara started, "or at least he was until tonight."

"It's hard to believe how much he's changed. He used to be the obnoxious little lab tech, and now he's well on his way to being a full-fledged CSI," Nick smiled sadly.

"I remember the first time I met him," Sara said, "I thought he was the most annoying person I'd ever met. But now, he's…like a little brother to me."

Grissom entered the room, happy to see Sara was not sitting alone. He had been worried about her when he sent her away. He knew she was very upset and should not be working on a case. She was not in the right state of mind to be handling evidence. Nick had called earlier, but Grissom hadn't been sure if he was going to join Sara or not.

"Hello," he said tiredly as he sat down across from the pair.

"Still no update on Greg," Sara said.

"I found out what went on tonight," Grissom started, "there was some sort of gang fight in the parking lot across from our original crime scene tonight. A botched drug deal or something like that, it got out of hand and escalated into gunfire. Most of the bullets hit empty cars. Unfortunately a couple of stray bullets came our way and struck Greg. One of the gang members was killed at the scene."

"Wow, talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time," Nick breathed.

"Greg was probably still collecting evidence when the first shot was fired. Then he wasn't fast enough to dodge the two bullets that came our way," Sara said, her voice shaky, "why did it have to be him? He's so young."

Grissom remained silent, unsure of what to say. Nick took one of Sara's hands in his own, and stroked it comfortingly. He, also, had no idea what to say. They all stayed uncomfortably silent.

Catherine walked in the waiting room at the moment, looking very tired and upset, "I just got the call. Where's Greg?"

"He's in surgery right now," Nick responded.

"We have no idea on his condition," Sara added.

"Two bullets to the chest, near the heart," Grissom said, "it wasn't looking good, Cath."

"How did he get shot?" she asked, confusion now apparent in her tone.

"A gang fight broke out across from a hit and run we were processing. A few stray bullets came our way and he was in the path," Grissom explained simply.

"Damn," Catherine muttered as she sat next to Grissom.

A harried looking doctor walked briskly toward the room where the CSIs had gathered, "Hello, I've been working on Greg Sanders, I need to know if anyone has contacted his family."

"I don't think so," Grissom replied, "do you need me to do that? I'm his boss."

"We don't have an emergency contact for him, so if you have a number you can give it to the nurses at the desk so that we can inform his family on his condition," the doctor said.

"Do we get an update?" Sara asked.

The doctor checked his watch, "I'll send someone down to you in a little while, right now I don't have the time."

The doctor left just as quickly as he had come.

"I better go look up Greg's personal information," Grissom turned to leave as well, "I'll be back as soon as I can be."

Nick, Catherine and Sara were left to sit staring at one another. They felt no better than they had a few moments ago, only more confused by the doctor's hurry. Apparently he had something very important to attend to if he couldn't even say something as simple as whether or not Greg had a chance to live. They still had no idea of how severe Greg's injuries were.

A/N: Okay I took a break from my studying to go ahead and update again. But seriously don't expect one tomorrow or Friday because in addition to taking a final and getting ready to go home for a month, I get to move too! What fun!


	3. He Was Very Lucky

Catherine had to leave before they got any news on Greg's condition. She seemed very reluctant to go, but said she had to go home and make sure Lindsey got up and ready for school. Grissom had returned with the number and also headed home, for sleep.

"Maybe you should go home and get some sleep," Nick suggested to Sara, who looked very tired.

"No, I'm not leaving, I don't even know if Greg's alive or not at this point," Sara gave him a serious look, "I will not even consider leaving until I at least know if he's okay."

"Fair enough," Nick raised his hands to show he was backing off, "can I at least get you something to eat or drink?"

"I'm fine," Sara assured him.

"Okay," Nick sighed, "well if you aren't leaving, I'm not. I've still got plenty of time before my shift starts."

"Shouldn't you sleep before you go back to work?" Sara asked, "you couldn't have gotten much sleep before they called you."

"If you aren't leaving, I'm not leaving. You shouldn't sit here all by yourself, worrying about Greg. I care about him too," Nick crossed his arms.

"All right," Sara smiled slightly, glad that she would have company.

Shortly after their conversation, Sara let sleep consume her. She hadn't realized just how she tired she was until Nick suggested she get some sleep. Not ten minutes later, she was asleep in the hospital waiting room, head resting on Nick's shoulder. Nick had been caught off guard when Sara leaned on him, he was nearly asleep himself and he felt weight on his shoulder. He smiled briefly at her, thinking that she must have been tired after all. A doctor entered the room to find them sleeping on the chairs. The doctor cleared his throat and woke them up. Sara sat up quickly, embarrassed at having fallen asleep.

"You are here about Greg Sanders?" the doctor asked.

"Yes, we're his co-workers," Sara supplied.

"My name is Dr. Smith," the man introduced himself, "his family is not able to come here yet, so they asked me to relay information on him to you."

"Okay," Nick let out a yawn.

"How is he?" Sara inquired.

"Mr. Sanders was shot twice in the chest, one bullet narrowly missed his heart and exited through his back. The other bullet pierced his left lung and we had to do surgery to remove the bullet and repair his lung. He is unconscious right now, but he should wake up soon. He was very lucky, had the bullet been slightly further to the left, he might not be alive right now," Dr. Smith explained.

"Wow," was all Nick could manage to sputter.

"Will he recover?" Sara asked.

"I believe that in time he should be just fine. The young man may be in for a long recovery though," the doctor said.

"Can we visit him?" Sara inquired.

Dr. Smith sighed, "Technically we only allow family members in the ICU. But I think we could make an exception, when he wakes up. So long as he is all right with visitors, I think we can break the rules."

"Thank you, Dr. Smith," Sara sat back down.

The doctor left Nick and Sara sitting alone once again.

"Sorry about falling asleep on you there," Sara blushed.

"It's okay, I fell asleep too," Nick smiled, "I guess we were both a lot more tired than we were willing to admit."

"Maybe I should head home. I want to be here for Greg, but I also know when I need to get some sleep," Sara yawned.

"And I should probably head home and take a quick nap before I have to get ready for work," Nick checked the clock.

"He probably won't wake up for a while anyway," Sara reasoned, "he's bound to be drugged from the surgery and even when that wears off, he should still be sleepy."

"You can always stop back here before you go to work to check on him," Nick suggested.

"Good idea," Sara stood, "shall we head out?"

"Now don't fall asleep when you're driving home, Sara," Nick teased as they walked.

"Very funny, I won't Nick," Sara elbowed him.

"Ouch. That was uncalled for. You said you weren't tired before and not ten minutes later, you were out cold," Nick reminded her.

"Well that was different. I was just sitting there. I'll be driving, so I have something to keep me awake," Sara assured him.

"Okay. Well maybe I'll see you when you get to work," Nick waved a quick goodbye as she slid into her vehicle.

"Thanks for coming to sit with me," Sara smiled at him.

Sara drove home and headed straight for her bed. She barely remembered to set her alarm clock before she was asleep. She hadn't even bothered to change out of her work clothes or get under the blankets. She was much more tired than she had realized. It had been a long night and it had started out poorly then only managed to get worse. The whole night's events just kept replaying in Sara's dreams and while she slept, it was not a restful slumber.

A/N: Another chapter for you. Intended to have it up sooner, but got caught up in some Christmas shopping and the whole fun of coming home for a month. Anyway, hope you enjoy it.


	4. I Don't Feel Like Anyone Needs Me

When Greg woke up he couldn't remember where he was. It was a very frightening feeling because he had no idea where he was or why his chest hurt. He tried to remember, but his mind was just a blank. After a few terrifying moments of trying desperately to figure out what had happened to him, a doctor entered his room and explained that he was in the hospital. That was slightly relieving to him, but he wished he knew why he was in the hospital. His throat was sore and he couldn't manage to speak loud enough for the doctor to hear him. The doctor told him not to speak yet and Greg just laid back, very confused at what had happened to him. The doctor examined him and then gave him a glass of water to ease his aching throat.

"A Sara Sidle is here, would you like for her to come see you?" a nurse that Greg hadn't even seen enter the room asked.

Greg nodded his head quickly. Maybe Sara could tell him why he was here. The doctor and nurse both left and the nurse returned with Sara.

"Hi Greg," she said softly.

Greg smiled weakly, "Hello."

"How are you feeling?" Sara asked.

"Confused mostly at the moment," Greg croaked.

"You don't remember what happened?" Sara inquired.

"Not really, no," Greg admitted.

"You, Grissom and I were at the site of a hit and run last night. We were processing the scene when we heard a gunshot. No one knew where it came from and we all looked around. Another shot rang out and Grissom and I started yelling at all the people around to hit the ground. Several more shots were fired and I guess you didn't react fast enough because you took a couple of bullets in the chest," Sara explained.

Greg closed his eyes, "I vaguely remember being at the scene."

"It was scary. I turned around and you were on the ground, bleeding. The police finally found out that there had been a gang fight in the parking lot across from our scene and you were just an unfortunate victim of the crossfire. Grissom sent me here last night and I sat and waited for hours. Nick came to sit with me and eventually Grissom and Catherine both showed up for a little while. Warrick didn't come because they couldn't get a hold of him last night, I would imagine he was asleep. Nick and I stayed until early this morning, then we had to both go home and sleep," Sara added, "and I thought I'd come see if you were awake before work."

"What about my family?" Greg asked.

"They were notified last night, but they can't make it here right now. They asked us to make sure you were okay," Sara smiled.

"This is going to sound stupid, but exactly was I shot? My whole chest hurts right now," Greg said.

"One of the bullets narrowly missed your heart, the other one ended up in your lung. You were really lucky," Sara told him, "they did surgery on you last night to repair your lung and remove the bullet. The doctor told us you would probably make a full recovery."

"I just can't believe I don't remember this," Greg sighed.

"You're still pretty drugged up, don't be too hard on yourself," Sara laughed.

"Thanks for telling me what happened," Greg said.

"I'm glad to see you awake," Sara said, "unfortunately, it's time for me to be getting to work. I can't be late. We were short before last night and now it's down to just Grissom, Sophia and me. I hope that we get a temporary replacement."

Greg sighed, "To be honest, Sara, I don't know if I want to be a CSI anymore. It's not what I thought it would be like. I'd rather take my chances being caught in a lab accident than getting shot at."

"Oh Greg, it's not always like this. This is a rare occurrence," Sara said, "don't give up so quickly."

"It's not just this. I liked it more when I was a lab tech. Everyone was always bringing their stuff to me. I felt more important. Now that I'm trying to become a CSI, I don't feel like anyone needs me," Greg explained.

"That's ridiculous, we still need you," Sara told him.

"I still think I would rather go back to being a lab tech. I may not be respected as much as you CSIs, but I don't belong in the field. It took getting shot to make me realize that," Greg finished.

"Okay, I guess if that's what you want. Maybe Ecklie will be forced to bring Warrick or Nick back to our shift. Anyway, you don't worry about this now, Greg, you just focus on healing," Sara smiled at him.

"I will," Greg yawned, "see you around, Sara."

"Bye Greg," Sara left, knowing he wanted to sleep.

Sara headed for the lab, hoping that someone had already been brought in to help them out. She didn't want to tell anyone about the discussion she'd just had with Greg, hoping he would change his mind. He was still on pain killers and hadn't had much time to process what had happened to him.

"Hey Sara," Nick greeted her when she entered the locker room.

"Hi Nick," Sara returned.

"So guess who gets to pull a double because Greggo's in the hospital?" Nick asked.

"Hmm. Would that be you?" Sara grinned.

"Yep, too bad he's not here. I could use some of his coffee right now," Nick yawned.

"I just saw him in the hospital. He was awake and talking," Sara put her jacket in her locker and closed the door.

"Oh yeah? How was he?" Nick inquired.

"About what you'd expect for someone who was just shot twice," Sara said, "he was confused about what happened, so I filled in the details for him. He doesn't remember anything so he won't be a good witness."

"Speaking of that, Grissom said he needed to question you," Nick suddenly remembered.

"I don't think I will be a very good witness," Sara sighed, "I was so worried about Greg, I don't remember many details, but of course I'll try for Greg."

"Hopefully this case will be wrapped up soon. I mean, we have several guns and a dead gang member. So we know where to start looking," Nick said, "it's just a matter of figuring out which gun was used to shoot Greg."

"I better go see Grissom," Sara stood, "and I hope you're right. It would be nice for this to be over quickly. I would love to go tell Greg that we have the guy who shot him behind bars."

"Have fun with Grissom," Nick winked.

"Oh yeah, interrogations are a blast," Sara rolled her eyes.

A/N: Don't expect an update for a while. I'm suffering from writer's block on this story. I need to take a break from it to figure out where I was going. In the meantime, I may post another new story.


	5. All Those Flowers Are From Hot Chicks

"Hey Greg, how are you feeling?" Sara asked as she sat next to the injured young man.

"I've had better days," he smiled weakly.

"I'm sure you have," she nodded, "we worked on the case all day today. There's a lot of bullets though. I don't know if we're going to be able to figure this one out."

"You guys can do it," Greg told her, "if anyone can, it's you and Grissom."

"Thanks, but I don't know about this one, Greg," Sara shook her head, "we're going to work our hardest of course."

"So, I've had some time to think, you know there's not a lot to do in the hospital," Greg rolled his eyes, "I'm still thinking that maybe I was better off before I left the lab."

"But you," Sara started.

"I know," he cut her off, "I mean you can only say so many things. I know this isn't normal, but this has made me realize that I don't think I really want to be in the field. I may have been the lowly annoying lab tech, but I was good at what I did and with the one exception, my life was not in danger when I was doing my work."

Sara stayed silent for several moments, contemplating what Greg had just said, "Well, ultimately the decision is up to you. I just think you're being too quick to make a decision. I know you just had a very traumatic experience, but I still think you have great potential as a CSI. Grissom would have never let you start field work if he didn't approve of it."

"True," he nodded slowly.

"What I'm getting at is just try to really think things through before you make any big decisions," she told him.

"Of course I will before I say anything to Grissom. I just thought I'd tell you that I have thought about it since the last time we spoke," Greg sighed.

"Just give it a little while. You don't want to make another career changing decision because of one bad experience. I know you've got a lot of things on your mind right now, but just wait at least until you're feeling better," Sara said.

"So, how are you?" Greg felt the need to change the subject.

"Tired, but otherwise I'm fine," Sara smiled, "since you're going to be here for a while longer, should I bring you something? A magazine to read…I don't know, you tell me."

"Actually, Warrick was here earlier and he gave me a stack," Greg gestured to the stack of magazines on the table next to his bed.

Sara took a moment to look around the room. There were some flowers from various people, a couple cards and some balloons. There was no doubting that Greg was well-liked at the lab, even if he was a little weird and annoying.

"You know all those flowers are from hot chicks," Greg grinned at her, noticing she was looking at them.

"Hmm, I'll have to tell Nick and Warrick you think they're hot chicks," Sara raised her eyebrows, noting the card on the flowers nearest her was from the three swing shift members, "and I'm sure Catherine will appreciate it too."

"Damn it," Greg laughed, "I thought I had the nurse take all the cards off the flowers."

"Apparently not," Sara joined his laughter. This felt much better. This was what Greg was supposed to act like. Of course, since he was becoming a CSI, he'd have to mature some, but he could still be his goofy self.

"You're not really going to tell them I said that, are you?" Greg asked, suddenly worried.

"Maybe I will, maybe I won't," Sara grinned, she loved being able to tease him like this.

"You're evil, Sara," Greg shook his head, "I must be rubbing off on you."

"Ha," Sara snorted, "yeah that's it."

"Did you just snort?" Greg began to laugh hysterically.

Sara turned a bright shade of red and then joined the contagious laughter. They stayed and talked for a few more minutes before Sara finally had to go.

"I'd better go home and get some sleep," Sara glanced at the clock, "I won't be useful to anyone if I don't."

"Okay, well thanks for visiting me. If you really want to do something for me, just keep coming back. Being alone in the hospital is not fun," Greg said seriously.

"I'll try to come as much as I can," Sara offered, "and with any luck, you won't be here for too much longer."

"I'll try my best to recover quickly so I can go home," Greg chuckled.

"Goodbye, Greg," Sara left the room with a smile on her face.

"Bye Sara," he called after her.

* * *

Catherine hadn't had a chance to visit Greg yet and she knew she should. Between Lindsey's acting up lately and working long hours, she was pretty tired. Being a supervisor was quite a bit of extra work, much of it of the paper variety. There were so many forms to fill out with each case, it was ridiculous.

"Hey Catherine, I haven't seen you in a while," Greg welcomed her in.

"I've been pretty busy," Catherine admitted, "but I knew I could make time to visit you."

"Aw shucks," Greg teased, "thanks for visiting."

"This almost feels like déjà vu," Catherine said, taking a seat next to Greg's bed.

"What, you're not going to tell me you're the one who shot me, are you?" Greg tried to keep a serious expression.

Catherine cracked a smile, "No. Not this time Greg. I was just thinking it felt familiar to be here, me in the chair and you in the hospital bed, wearing one of those sexy gowns."

"Oh God," Greg slapped his forehead, "I'd forgotten I was wearing one of those."

Catherine smirked as he pulled up the sheets, "No really, it's sexy."

"Shut up," Greg glared at her, "I'm the one who's supposed to tease you."

"It works both ways," Catherine informed him.

"You know, if someday we're switched and you're the one in the gown, I'll never let you hear the end of it," Greg warned.

"I'll make it a point to not end up in one, then," Catherine shot back.

"Oh fine. Is that all you came here to do? Tease me," Greg pretended to be hurt.

"Grow up," Catherine shook her head, "but seriously, how are you holding up?"

"All right. I'm getting plenty of visitors to keep me company. If I was in here alone all day, I might have gone bouncing off the walls by now," Greg explained.

"Yeah," Catherine said, "well I'm glad to hear you've got lots of company. How are you feeling, physically?"

"I'm on so many drugs, most of the day I don't feel anything. But when they start to wear off, I know I'm going to be in pain for a while. It basically hurts every time I breathe," Greg told her.

"Well, you know Grissom and Sara are doing their best to find out who shot you. I've never seen the pair of them working so hard. Both of them worked double shifts. Ecklie finally had to kick them out of the lab so they'd go home and sleep for a little while," Catherine said.

"I saw Sara earlier, she didn't tell me they were working that hard," Greg said, "she stayed for a little while and said she had to sleep."

"They both push themselves a little too far sometimes," Catherine shook her head, "don't turn into them."

"I don't think you need to worry about that," Greg smiled, "I enjoy the social life."

"Perhaps a little bit too much sometimes," Catherine teased.

"I'm sorry, I love science too, but there's so much more out there to see and do," Greg grinned.

"I hate to cut my visit short, but I have a daughter to get home to," Catherine stood to leave.

"Okay, bye," Greg waved as she left.

A/N: I'm back! And so is this story (after a VERY long hiatus).I'm still working on a few others. I will hopefully be posting some new stories soon. I'm having a hard time with this one, but I'm trying to get it going again.


	6. Basically, I Need a Ride

Sara continued to visit Greg regularly until he got out of the hospital. After the first couple visits, his personality had pretty much reverted to what it used to be. Not a day went by when they didn't get into a silly argument or teased one another. The nurses who tended to Greg's wounds knew Sara by name because she was the only daily visitor. The rest of the CSIs visited from time to time, but Sara was the only regular.

When it finally came time for Greg to go home, he was so bored, he was ready to leave the second he was cleared.

"All right, Mr. Sanders, I think you are clear to go home now," the doctor told him with a smile.

"Thank God," Greg replied.

"Now, we weren't that bad to you, were we?" the doctor asked.

"No," Greg grinned, "I'm just not one of those people who can sit around all day and be fine with it. I need action."

"Then how fitting for you to be in the profession you are," the doctor smiled, "just remember you are out of our careful watch, but you still need to take it easy. No work for at least another week or two."

"Of course," Greg nodded, "how soon can I leave?"

"As soon as you fill out a release form and someone comes to get you," the doctor said.

"All right, bring that form as soon as you can," Greg was truly eager to leave.

As soon as he was left alone, he made a phone call, "Sara, did I wake you?"

"Yeah," came the groggy reply.

"I'm so sorry, but I just got released and I figured you could come get me," Greg explained apologetically, "basically, I need a ride."

"Sure, give me a little while and I'll be there," Sara replied.

"Thank you so much, I'm going to make this up to you somehow," Greg promised.

"See you soon," Sara said.

"Bye," Greg hung up.

Greg stood up slowly, pain flaring up in his chest. He held still for a moment, waiting for it to subside. He wanted to get dressed before Sara showed up. He knew it was not going to be an easy task, the pain still strong in his chest and back. This was something he wanted to do by himself though. It would be pitiful and pathetic if he couldn't at least dress himself.

It took a while longer to get dressed than he would have liked, but he was glad just to have gotten it done. He sat carefully on the edge of the bed and filled out the release form when it was brought to him. He hoped he could sit down and look cool by the time Sara arrived. He had gotten unusually sweaty as he had gotten dressed, the task taking more effort than it should have.

* * *

Sara arrived at the hospital shortly after Greg had called her. She had to get re-dressed and fix her hair, but that hadn't taken long. She didn't mind picking her friend up because she knew how desperate he was to leave the hospital. She had thought about taking as long as she could, just to torture Greg, but she had decided against it.

"You have no idea just how good it is to see you right now," Greg greeted her, as he sat on the edge of his bed, wearing his own clothes that someone had brought him from home. The clothes he'd worn the night of the shooting had of course been taken in for evidence. Sara assumed he'd asked one of the guys to go to his place and bring him some clothes for when he got out.

"You're just saying that because I'm getting you out of this joint," Sara smiled.

"And that's a bad thing?" Greg asked.

"So you admit, you're just using me," Sara feigned resentment.

"Yes, that's what it is. The second you get me home, I'm never seeing you outside of work again," Greg rolled his eyes.

"For your sake, that better have been sarcasm," Sara crossed her arms.

"Seriously, you're a good friend Sara. I really appreciate you doing all this for me. You're the only who visited me every day. And now you're taking me home, I can't thank you enough," Greg told her.

"I was just being a friend. I knew how much it was killing you to be alone in this place all day. Not to mention, I had an empty apartment to go home to, so it's not like I was missing out on anything," Sara returned.

"Well, I'm ready to go if you are," Greg stood, pain shooting through his chest.

"Are you okay?" Sara asked, noting the pained look on his face when he stood.

"Yeah," Greg flashed her an assuring smile, "I just have to get used to moving slowly right now."

"Don't be afraid to ask for help," Sara eyed him closely, watching for the slightest sign of trouble as he walked toward the door.

"Sara, really I'm okay," Greg said, "let's get out of this place."

"All right," Sara followed him, making sure to walk near him if he needed any help.

They got successfully out to Sara's car and Greg sat carefully in the passenger's seat.

"So, ready to head home?" Sara inquired.

"Actually, if you wouldn't mind, can we go out to eat?" Greg asked.

"Shouldn't you be going home and getting rest?" Sara questioned.

"Yes, but my God, woman, I've been cooped up in that hospital room, eating hospital room for too long. Can we just go somewhere before I get stuck in my apartment for days?" Greg asked, clearly serious about not going directly home.

"Of course," Sara laughed, "I was joking. I know you've been locked up for a while now."

"Good," Greg loosened up and smiled, "so where should we go?"

"I don't know. Have we ever eaten together?" Sara asked, "I don't even know what kind of food you like."

"At this point, anything that's not hospital food sounds good to me," Greg told her.

"Well, if you don't mind vegetarian, I know a place that's sort of near the lab," Sara offered.

"Sounds great," Greg nodded, "that's right, you're a vegetarian. I nearly forgot."

The pair had lunch together and argued over who would pay. Greg won out, insisting that Sara had already done too much for him. Finally, Sara took Greg to his apartment. She escorted him inside, wanting to make sure he was really going to be okay.

"Well thanks again," Greg said as they sat in his living room, "I really do appreciate all you've done for me."

"Not a problem," Sara assured him.

"I'd imagine you need to get back to your place and get some sleep before work," Greg checked the clock.

"I don't know about sleep," Sara said, "but I might want to shower before work."

"That's what the smell was!" Greg teased.

"Hey! I would have showered had I not been rudely awakened by a needy guy," Sara shot back.

"I'm not needy," Greg argued.

"Really? I seem to recall someone _needing_ a ride home from the hospital," Sara countered.

Greg opened his mouth to reply, but couldn't think of a comeback, "Fine, you win _again_."

Sara smiled, "Of course, I'm smarter."

"Yeah," Greg raised his eyebrows, "if you say so."

"So, do you need anything before I go?" Sara asked.

"I don't think so," Greg glanced around.

"All right," Sara stood, "if you need anything, you can always call me."

"Only try not to wake you next time, right?" Greg asked jokingly.

"Bingo," Sara replied, "you can only get away with that so many times before it begins to seriously cost you."

"Bye Sara," Greg laughed, "you're really an amazing friend."

"Bye Greg," she turned back to face him, "and I'm just doing for you what I could only hope someone would do for me if I ever needed it."

"You better believe I'd help you out in a heartbeat," Greg smiled.

"Make sure you don't overdo it," Sara warned, "you really do need to rest."

"Yes _mother_," Greg said sarcastically as Sara left.

He would never admit to her, but he was actually quite tired. He had the feeling he'd be taking it easy whether he wanted to or not.

A/N: Well, I've been out of school for about two weeks now. I needed about a week to recover from finals and my grandparents were in town from Oregon when I got out of school. Since then, I've been busy putting away all my stuff and searching for a summer job. I finally got a chance to sit down and work my stories, only to realize I was severely writer's blocked. I managed to get over it and I am back at it now.


	7. Letter of Resignation

Chapter Seven

Greg had finally made up his mind about what he wanted to do. He knew it would be disappointing to all those who knew him, but he decided he just wasn't cut out for the field work stuff. Of course he had enjoyed it for a while, but he decided what he'd really needed was not to be a CSI, but just to get out of the lab and see what he was missing out on. Now he realized that he was not missing out on anything he really felt the need to be a part of. He'd weighed the pros and cons of each job and had ultimately decided being a lab tech had more benefits. Now all he had to do was tell Grissom that he wanted to go back to the lab.

He asked Sara to drive him to the lab under the guise of 'just visiting everyone.' Of course he had the feeling she knew it was not the only reason for his visit, but she went along with it anyway. When they arrived, he split with Sara as she headed for the locker room. He nervously headed for Grissom's office to let him know what he had decided. Fortunately, Grissom was at work early, as usual and Greg knocked on his door.

"Greg, come in," Grissom looked surprised.

"Hi," Greg sat in the chair across from Grissom.

"We've narrowed the evidence and we're closing in on figure out just who it was that shot you. All the suspects have been arrested, it's really just a technicality," Grissom explained.

"That's kind of what I wanted to talk about," Greg started, "about getting shot."

"I've been meaning to ask, how are you?" Grissom asked.

"Okay," Greg replied, "but that's not what I wanted to talk about. I've had a lot of time to think while I was in the hospital. The more I thought about it, the less I want to be a CSI. I know that being shot is not something that happens all the time, I've already heard just about every argument in the book from Sara. I just realized that I really enjoyed working as the DNA lab tech. Sure, there was less respect and I was always listening to my music and being a little weird, but I was really good at what I did. I can't really say the same about field work. I'm awkward, and it seems like I'm just not getting the hang of it. Plus, there's always that added danger factor."

Grissom seemed stunned by Greg's words as he took several minutes to respond, "Greg, I understand that this has been a traumatic experience for you. It's understandable that you would want to quit, but I don't think I can let you. You've come so far, and despite your assessment of yourself, you're doing a good job. Everyone struggles at first, you can't just expect it to come to you easily."

"What exactly do you mean by 'you can't let me quit'?" Greg asked.

"I mean, I am not willing to let you just give up," Grissom explained, "you had a very scary experience and you are having doubts about your ability to do your job as a side effect. We already have a replacement for you, so it's not even like your old job is available."

"You won't let me stop being a CSI?" Greg was incredulous, "well I don't really think it's up to you."

"You just need to calm down and think about it," Grissom countered.

"I've done all the thinking I care to," Greg crossed his arms, "I made my decision. If you don't support it, maybe I should just quit."

"You wouldn't give your job here entirely would you?" it was Grissom's turn to be incredulous.

"If I have to," Greg said, "you can't make me be a CSI."

"And I don't want to force you to, I just think you're making your decision based on all the wrong reasons," Grissom told him, "I think you need to cool off and come back to me another time."

"I don't want to cool off and come back. I made my decision. I can't believe you're arguing with me," Greg stood angrily, "I guess you can consider this my notice of resignation."

"Are you sure you want this?' Grissom asked.

"Yes," Greg spun around, "as a matter of fact, I am."

"Then for it to be official, I'm going to need a letter of resignation," Grissom said.

"You'll have it on your desk before you get to work tomorrow," Greg told him and then disappeared from sight.

Grissom shook his head in disbelief. He hadn't meant to make Greg so mad. He'd only wanted him to re-think what he thought he was so sure about. The last thing he'd expected was for Greg to refuse and quit his job entirely.

* * *

"What the Hell did you do?" Sara stormed into Grissom's office, not even bothering to knock.

"Excuse me," Grissom was caught completely off guard.

"Greg just informed me that he is quitting," Sara said, "and I'm guessing it was because of you. He was fine when I talked to him earlier."

"Wait a minute, you don't even know what happened," Grissom told her, "he came here and told me he wanted to go back to being a lab tech. I asked him to re-think it and he got really mad and said if I didn't let him be a tech, he'd quit."

"Really?" Sara asked, her anger toward Grissom fading.

"Yes," Grissom nodded, "I told him he was really good at being a CSI and that I didn't want to let him stop because he was afraid."

"Oh," Sara sighed, "sorry for yelling at you."

"It's all right," Grissom assured her, "so he's really going through with it?"

"I think he's serious," Sara sat slowly across from her supervisor.

"Well, I asked him for a letter of resignation. I'm hoping he will calm down and realize he doesn't want to quit," Grissom explained.

"I hope so too," Sara told him, "I tried talking him out of it a lot of times."

"He mentioned that," Grissom nodded, "well maybe when you get off shift you can go talk to him. You've spent a lot of time with him recently."

"True," Sara agreed, "I'll have to talk to him later. Right now, I'll just give him a ride home and not say anything about it. So I might be a little late."

"That's fine," Grissom said.

Sara drove Greg home and as predicted, he was silent the whole time. She had decided not to press the issue, unless he wanted to talk.

"Thanks," Greg got out of her Denali at his apartment building, "and I know you want to ask me."

"Ask you what?" Sara decided to play ignorant.

"Am I really quitting? And the answer is yes. As long as Grissom won't let me be a lab tech again," Greg told her.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Sara replied.

"I'm not," Greg said, "I think it would be nice to find a new job in a new city."

"And miss out on the Vegas club life? I thought you loved that Greg," Sara argued.

"I'd live," Greg replied, "there's always something to do. It doesn't matter what town I live in, I can find a new set of clubs to go to."

"Well, I have to get back to the lab," Sara glanced at the time, "are we still on for lunch tomorrow?"

"I guess so," Greg nodded.

"Okay, I'll call you when I'm ready," Sara told him.

"See you tomorrow, then," Greg turned and Sara stayed long enough to watch him go inside his apartment building. She headed back to work and hoped Grissom was right. She knew he couldn't really want to be a tech again. He had been so eager to get in the field. She understood that he was probably nervous about returning to work, but she had been too when they were in the explosion.

A/N: Glad to hear that you guys are still enjoying the story. I think I'm finally back in the swing of writing it! Thanks to all of you who are reading it.


	8. That Screams Insanity to Me

Chapter 8

Greg's anger had faded a little overnight, but he was still certain that he didn't want to be a CSI. He couldn't believe Grissom had reacted the way he had. He couldn't believe he had gotten so upset over it. It was clear to him that he still had some feelings to sort out. When he'd gotten home the previous night, he sat down and wrote out his letter of resignation. He sat in front of his computer early the next morning, intending to type his letter. As he read it, he knew he couldn't bring himself to write this letter. Instead, he wrote a different one out in word processor. The new letter was much better worded and sounded more professional. He printed the letter, signed it and put it in an envelope with "To Supervisor Grissom" written on it.

His phone rang a few minutes later, startling him out of his silent reverie.

"Sanders," he answered uncharacteristically.

"Hey Greg, I don't think I've ever heard you answer your phone that way," Sara laughed on the other end of the line.

He quickly checked the clock, thinking that somehow he'd lost track of time so much it was lunchtime. However, it was still a bit early for lunch.

"I guess I'm a little tired this morning," Greg said.

"Well go back to bed," Sara said as if it were obvious, "that's what I'm calling for. I had a case that took a lot longer than I thought last night. I was hoping we could move our lunch to maybe a dinner before shift. I need to get some sleep."

"Sure thing," Greg told her.

"Good. I just got home, so I need to go to bed before I fall asleep on you," Sara yawned, as if to punctuate her point.

"All right, I'll see you tonight," Greg could tell she was serious.

"I'll call you when I wake up," Sara informed him.

"Bye," Greg finished.

"Bye," Sara hung up.

Greg felt a little better after his conversation with Sara. Her good mood had rubbed off on him slightly. He still knew that he wanted to resign. He decided that since Sara was not coming for lunch, he would go to the lab and put letter on Grissom's desk, as promised. He wanted to do it late enough in the morning that Grissom wouldn't be there, but before swing or graveyard shift showed up. He just wanted to go in, put the letter on his desk, and leave before anyone recognized him.

* * *

Sara called Greg as promised when she was dressed and ready to go. He met her outside his apartment and rode to the restaurant in relative quiet. Sara could sense that he was not in the mood for talking. When they were finally seated at the restaurant, she thought she'd try the subject of his resignation.

"Are you really quitting, Greg?" Sara asked bluntly.

"Do we have to talk about that right now? Can we just enjoy our meal first?" Greg asked.

"Sure," Sara knew when to back off.

"I don't mean to be rude, I'd just like to have a little fun before we inevitably end up arguing," Greg sighed.

"Okay, that's fine," Sara smiled in effort to relax the atmosphere.

"Actually, I guess I should tell you. I already put my resignation letter on Grissom's desk," Greg admitted.

"Aw Greg, why?" Sara asked, suddenly very disappointed.

Greg took a deep, steadying breath, then spoke, "I told you, I don't want to be a CSI anymore. And Grissom wouldn't let me go back to being a tech, so the only option left was quitting."

"You don't want to do that," Sara replied, "not really. Do you?"

"Why not?" Greg asked.

"I know you don't really want to be a CSI since you got shot. But I think that's not really the truth. I think you're just scared to go back to the job," Sara put up her hands to ward off his argument, "please just listen. Greg, you can't quit. The lab would miss you. I would miss you. Since the team got split, you're the only one left on the team that I really like. It wouldn't be nearly as fun. Greg, you're a blast to be with, at least usually. If you left the lab, it wouldn't be the same."

Greg didn't know how to respond to that. He just stared at Sara, mouth opening and closing several times in an attempt to say something, anything.

"But if you already handed in your resignation, I guess it's too late," Sara glanced away.

"Do you think Grissom would let me take it back?" Greg asked.

"I don't know," Sara said, "is that what you want? Don't let me force you back into it. Only come back if it's what you want."

"I want it," Greg said slowly, "you're absolutely right. I am afraid to get back out in the field. I didn't want to admit it, but I guess I should face it."

"It's okay to be scared," Sara told him, "it's normal. When you're faced with a traumatic experience, you go through a lot of emotions. It's absolutely normal to be scared when you get back to the field."

"You sound like you know what you're talking about," Greg said curiously.

"I guess you could say that," Sara nodded, "I've had my share of bad experiences, for sure."

"When do you stop feeling scared?" Greg asked.

"It depends. Usually it takes a lot of courage, but you have to face your fears and then from there it gets easier," Sara explained.

"If you help me, maybe I can do this. I can't let this one bad experience stop me from taking the job I've wanted for a while now. When we're through here, we need to pay Grissom a visit," Greg smiled, "do you think I could plead temporary insanity?"

"I could definitely see that working," Sara laughed, "Grissom has probably always thought you were a little nutty. I know I have."

"Thanks," Greg laughed.

"Can you blame me? I mean, the crazy music. The times we've found you with rubber gloves and other strange things on your head. Come on, Greg, that screams insanity to me," Sara grinned.

"Oh and you're so normal?" Greg shot back, "what with your…your…oh fine, you're normal, I'm a freak, you win."

"Hey, that's your conclusion, not mine, so don't get mad at me," she clapped him on the shoulder, "see this is what I meant. I would have missed this."

"Well thanks for talking me back into it. Making me come to my senses," he sipped water from his glass.

"Anytime, for a friend," she returned.


	9. Your Mind Can Be Your Worst Enemy

Chapter Nine

After dinner, Greg began to feel nervous. He hoped that Sara was right and Grissom would forgive him for being temporarily insane. It only took listening to Sara to make him realize that was just what had happened. He couldn't really just throw his job away over this. He didn't really want to quit and he knew that he had to have been nuts.

"You okay?" Sara glanced at her passenger as she drove.

"Hmm," Greg jumped a little, "oh yeah. I'm just hoping that Grissom buys the insane thing. I don't see how he could not. Really, I must have just lost it for a little while."

"I'm sure he will believe you, Greg. You've been submitted to a lot of stress and I'll go with you to talk to him. I believe you," Sara assured him.

"Good," Greg relaxed a little.

"You're positive this is what you want though, as soon as we get to the lab, there's no turning back," Sara told him.

"Are you _trying_ to scare me away?" Greg asked.

"No," Sara shook her head, "I'm just making sure that you're not being influenced by me."

"I'm not. I really want to do this. I was crazy to think I could just throw my career away. I'm so close to being a CSI 1. I've wanted this for a few years now, and I won't ruin it because I'm terrified of going to another scene," Greg assured her.

They arrived at the lab a few minutes later and Greg lead the way inside. Sara followed him to Grissom's office, where, no big surprise, he was inside. It was still quite early for their shift, but Grissom and Sara were always the first people there. Sara knocked on his door and he looked up at the pair and told them to come in.

Greg started before Grissom could say a word, "I guess you've found my letter by now."

"Yes," Grissom nodded slowly, "and let me guess, that's why you're here?"

"Yeah," Greg nodded.

"And I'm here for moral support," Sara added.

"Grissom, I don't really want to quit," Greg blurted.

"I sort of figured that," Grissom said matter-of-factly.

"I wasn't in a very good state of mind when we talked. I mean, I'm still very much afraid of going into the field, but I realized that I was nuts to quit over this. I can't throw away all the work I've done, all the help you've given me. I'm so lucky to even have this job. The last thing I want to do is leave, and I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused you," Greg said.

Grissom allowed several seconds to process this before speaking, "Greg, you have no need to apologize. We may have butted heads, but I understand that you have to be under an incredible amount of stress. Whenever you're ready to come back to work, and medically cleared, I will have your position open for you."

"Thank you so much!" Greg was now smiling broadly, "I really mean it. I'm going to go see if Nick or Warrick is here."

Grissom and Sara were left alone in his office, and there was an uncomfortable moment before either one spoke.

"So, how is he doing? You would know better than I. He's not exactly been friendly around me lately," Grissom finally broke the silence.

"Well, what do you think? He's been really stressed out. One minute he's normal and joking around, the next he's someone else completely. You saw that side and it's not pretty. I think he's just afraid, like he said," Sara explained.

"Yeah, I guess," Grissom nodded, "you think he'll be okay when he gets back?"

"Maybe. I don't really know. He'll probably be a wreck the first few nights, then I think he may be able to get back in the swing of things," Sara said.

"How about you?" Grissom asked.

"Me? I'm fine," Sara seemed confused.

"Just asking, you seemed pretty stressed yourself for a while. I'm glad to hear you're doing okay," he replied.

"Thanks for being understanding. Greg was worried you'd be upset, I told him it was going to be fine, but you made it easier for him," she changed the subject again.

"I know that after a life and death experience, your mind can be your worst enemy," he said, "you can have a very messy emotional state and you'll do and say things you don't mean."

"Yeah," Sara nodded, knowingly, "how do you know?"

"Remember Sid Goggle? He tried to kill me. And once, a long time before I knew you, I was shot at," Grissom said, "how about you?"

"The lab explosion," Sara said, hoping he wouldn't ask if there was more.

"Oh, how could I forget? So both of us know what Greg is going through to an extent," Grissom said.

"We just have to be patient and understanding," Sara said, "I better go see if he needs me to take him home."

"Okay," Grissom returned to whatever work he had been doing before they interrupted him.

* * *

"I hate this whole split," Greg announced when Sara entered the break room, "Warrick and Nick are both out working a case." 

"It's hard to get used to," Sara sat across from him, "I expected we might lose Catherine at some point, she wanted to be a supervisor, but I never expected to lose them too."

"I know, I seriously think Ecklie was just being spiteful. I don't know why, he was promoted, he could have just left Grissom alone," Greg shook his head.

"That's apparently not Ecklie's style though," Sara said, "but this probably isn't the place to talk about him anyway. You know there's ears all over this lab."

"True, and I should probably be getting home so you can be back for shift," Greg glanced at the clock.

"I was about to say that," Sara smiled and stood, "so how long do you think before you'll be ready for work?"

"I don't know," Greg said, "a little while. I need to get a hold of myself before I think about coming back. I guess I might need counseling."

"It can't hurt to look into it," Sara tried to hide the look of disgust on her face. She was still not thrilled about having been forced into seeing a PEAP counselor. Being pulled over and nearly given a DUI had been enough to scare her out of her drinking habits, but the lab had insisted that she go see a counselor. She supposed it had been beneficial, but she was still a little bitter about it.

"I don't know what else to do. I think I need some help," Greg shook his head tiredly.

"First I think someone needs to get a little sleep," Sara said, "sounds like you probably didn't get much last night."

"No," Greg admitted, "I didn't."

"Sometimes, just getting a good night's sleep can help you out," Sara told him.

"Yeah, I suppose that I haven't had a good night's sleep in a while," Greg yawned, "maybe I will feel better in the morning."

"And if not, you can always look into counseling," Sara added.

"Well thanks for everything you've done for me," Greg said.

"I'm glad I could be here for you. I would have really missed you if you left the lab. I know it may not seem like it, but I do like having you around," Sara let him know.

"You've been amazing to me," Greg told her, "I know I used to have that crush on you, but I really didn't know you all that well. I only knew what I saw of you in the lab. You are really a great person."

Sara smiled, "Thanks, Greg. It's nice to know that you think that of me. I know you probably get treated like you're just the goofy comic relief, but I can see that there's a lot more depth to you. I can see you're a good person too."

A/N: Sorry about the length in updates. I got a job and I've been too busy/tired to write much. But I am taking a week off for a family vacation and we won't be gone the whole time, so (MAYBE) I can write some more for you guys. Thanks so much to you loyal readers, I am always so grateful for you guys!


	10. Suddenly There Was a Loud Bang

Chapter Ten

Greg was a nervous wreck on the first night he returned to work, but as he waited in the break room for assignments, he maintained a calm outward appearance. He sat across the room from Sofia, who was thoroughly engrossed in some sort of forensic journal. He knew Sara and Grissom both had to be in the lab somewhere, they were both insanely early to work all the time. He glanced around the room, unable to keep his mind focused enough to read the magazine that sat in front of him.

"Greg, hey, how's it going?" Sara asked as she took a seat across from him.

"Well, I'm here, so that's a good start right?" he asked jokingly.

"Yes, I guess it is," Sara smiled, "are you ready for this, going back into the field and all?"

"No, but I'm going to do it anyway," Greg told her.

"Good for you, it's probably not going to be easy, but don't be afraid to ask for help," Sara told him.

"I think I can handle it, I've been preparing myself for this night for a while now," Greg said, "I just have to remember all the times I went out in the field and nothing bad happened. I have to remember that this was a freak accident."

A few minutes later, Grissom entered the room, several papers in hand, "Tonight we've got a big case. We're all going to be working together on this one. Swing shift is already on the case, we'll be joining them. Bank robbery gone wrong with multiple DBs and plenty of bullets to find."

"Okay, let's go," Sofia stood and crossed the room.

Grissom turned and followed her, leaving Sara and Greg still seated.

"Thank God, we're all working this one together," Greg breathed a sigh of relief, "I'm not exactly thrilled to be doing this, but I need to just get back on the horse, right?"

"Hey Greg, I'll be right there with you. Grissom will be there too," Sara reassured him, "we were both there that night too. Besides, this is different, it's indoors, the shooters are already gone, and you're going to be fine."

"You're right, let's go before they realize we're still sitting here," Greg smiled and headed for the door.

* * *

Grissom kept an eye on Greg as he processed one of the bodies. Greg's eyes kept shooting around nervously. The man was clearly on edge and there was nothing more to be said to calm him down. Sara also kept a close eye on Greg, and saw that Grissom was doing so as well. Greg was clearly very nervous, but so far he seemed to be doing okay.

Greg could feel his own heart pounding, much faster than it should be for processing a scene. He had done this countless times before. There was no real reason for him to be so nervous, but he was. He took a few calming breaths and willed his pounding heart to slow down. He glanced around to see where the other CSIs were and caught both Grissom and Sara watching him. He turned his back to them and closed his eyes for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts and calm himself down. Nothing was going to happen. The shooters were already in jail or dead for this case. There were tons of other CSIs and police officers around.

Slowly, carefully he continued his work on processing the body. After he got into a bit of a rhythm, he could feel himself calming down. His heart slowed down to a much more normal pace and his muscles began to relax from their extremely tense state. He could do this. There was no reason for him to quit. He enjoyed doing this. He had worked so hard for it and he couldn't believe he had been about ready to give up on it.

Eventually all the bodies were taken away by the coroner and the CSIs were left to figure out what exactly had taken place in the bank. Two of the robbers had been shot down and four others had been arrested when the SWAT team had finally gotten inside the bank. They could only assume that none of them had escaped. Eyewitness reports, unreliable as they may be, stated that no one ran out of the bank just before the SWAT team arrived.

Grissom sent Greg to retrieve any security tapes that the bank had. While he was off on this seemingly simple task, he felt a little bit nervous again. He knew that nothing was going to happen, but being off in the security office by himself made him a little nervous. He was collecting the tapes when, suddenly there was a loud bang from the bank lobby where the remaining CSIs were.

Greg's pulse immediately sped up and his mind told him the bank robbers were back to shoot all the CSIs. He knew this was an irrational thought, the sound hadn't even been anything near a gunshot, but his mind insisted he should run. He set the tapes down on a desk and cautiously made his way back toward the lobby.

Everyone in the lobby was going about their work as if nothing had happened. Greg leaned heavily against a wall, relieved to see that nothing was amiss. Sara spotted Greg and ran towards him.

"Hey Greg, are you okay?" she asked.

"What? Yeah I'm fine," he waved off her concern.

"Are you sure? You're kind of pale. You look like you might be sick," Sara knitted her eyebrows with worry.

"No, it's just I'm a little jumpy. I heard a crash a minute ago, and it scared the hell out of me," Greg explained.

"Oh, someone knocked a chair over," Sara tilted her head.

Greg snorted laughter, "I nearly had a heart attack over a chair being knocked over? God, I'm in worse shape than I thought."

"Do you need to go home?" Sara questioned.

"No, no. Honestly, I'll be fine. I just need to stop being so on edge. I'm going to kill myself freaking out over nothing," Greg flashed her a smile, "pathetic aren't I?"

Sara smiled back at him, "Not really. You know after the lab explosion I was afraid to walk past there. I thought somehow it was going to blow up again. Your mind is going to try and play some nasty tricks on you. Just try to remind yourself that's all it is, mind games."

"Yeah, I think I'm going to be okay with all this. I'm still going to be nervous as Hell working for a while, but I already took a big first step by coming here tonight," Greg said, "honestly, from here on out I think it will start to get easier. Once I can prove to myself that I can make it through a case fine, I'll be good to go."

"Just remember to take it easy," Sara reminded him, "you don't want to really give yourself a heart attack. Anyway, I am just about ready to take my evidence back to the lab for processing. I need to go see Doc Robbins too. Are you ready to leave or are you going to catch a ride with someone else?"

"I was actually just getting some security tapes. I need to take them back to Archie for processing, so give me a minute and I'll meet you outside," Greg turned back to the security office.

Sara watched him walk away, then turned and nearly collided with Grissom, "What are you doing standing right behind me?"

"Sorry, I was coming over to check on Greg," Grissom explained.

"You scared me there," Sara shook her head, "I was checking on him too."

"And how is he doing?" Grissom asked.

"He's doing okay. I just saw him come out of that office looking awfully pale and I was afraid he was going to pass out or something. I talked to him and he just said he let his nerves get the best of him when they knocked over that chair," Sara told him.

Grissom nodded, "I think he's going to be okay. It's going to take a little while for things to get back to normal, but I think Greg will end up being just fine."

"That's basically what he said," Sara said, "we're about to head back to the lab. I have evidence to log in and bodies to see. He's got security tapes to run over with Archie."

"Okay, I'll see you guys back at the lab then," Grissom turned away and headed back to his work.

A/N: I know I know, it's been forever since I updated. Well, there's not really any good excuse for it except that life caught with me for a while and kept me from writing. Then I forgot what the heck I was doing with this story. After that I wanted to write, but had no idea what to write about. So finally I got back into it. I will make no promises on when I update again, I always seem to be wrong on when I think I'll be able to update again. Sorry for the delay (again!) and as always, thanks so much to those of you who still read this story after so long.


	11. I Better Call For Help

Chapter Eleven

Traffic was heavy as Sara and Greg headed back to the lab. What should have been a short drive was now bordering on ridiculous.

"Good thing we're not in a hurry," Greg said after they sat through a long red light.

"Yeah," Sara nodded, "sometimes there's not a thing you can do about it though."

"There's probably an accident somewhere," Greg sighed, "I think we're lucky if we make it back to the lab before the end of shift at this rate."

Sara laughed, hitting the brakes at the next red light, "I should hope so."

"You never…" Greg trailed off and Sara looked up just in time to see the car swerve into their lane.

The impact was hard, and it happened so fast, neither of them could really react. Their SUV was pushed into the car in the next lane. Both Sara and Greg were whipped quickly to the side upon impact. The accident happened in a split second, but it seemed like an eternity before either of them could say a word.

Greg tried to unfasten his seatbelt, but fumbled with it, "Son of a bitch."

"Greg? You okay?" Sara asked, unfastening herself.

"Seatbelt's stuck," he explained.

"Let me try," Sara reached over and found the belt to be quite stuck.

"You can't get it either?" Greg was even more frustrated now.

"I better call for help," Sara searched for her radio or cell phone.

A man knocked on the window and Sara opened her door for him, as she had shut the engine off.

"We already called 911, are you guys seriously injured?" He asked.

"Don't think so," Sara shook her head slowly.

"All right, just sit tight so you don't have to try and fight traffic across the street. They're still whipping around you on the other side, I don't even like standing here," the man explained.

"Okay," Sara said, suddenly hit with a wave of dizziness.

"Ma'am, are you sure you're all right?" the man was concerned.

"Yeah, yes. I'm okay," Sara said.

"How about your friend there?" he gestured toward Greg.

"I'm okay," Greg said, "seatbelt's just stuck."

"Help should be here soon," the man said and then retreated to the relative safety of his own car. It appeared he was just a Good Samaritan who stopped to help out.

Sara leaned shakily back into her seat. Suddenly her head was spinning and so was everything else. She closed her eyes and tried to ignore the dizzying sensation. She could already hear the sound of sirens approaching.

"Sara?" Greg asked.

"Yeah?" she mumbled.

"You're not looking too good, are you really hurting somewhere?" Greg queried.

"My head, spinning," Sara's breath was growing shorter.

The last thing she heard before slipping into darkness was a muffled "Oh God" from Greg.

* * *

The sequence of events that occurred from the time Greg was cut out of his seatbelt in the SUV until he was in a bed in the hospital was a blur. He lost track of where Sara was taken and was desperate to know how she was, when Grissom came in to his room.

"Grissom! Have you heard anything about Sara yet?" Greg asked the second he spotted his supervisor.

"Yes, I just talked to her doctors," Grissom sat on the chair next to Greg's bed.

"Well…how is she?" Greg asked impatiently.

"She's going to be fine," Grissom told him, "she has a concussion from hitting her head. They're still running tests to make sure there's no bleeding or anything, but the doctors said there's absolutely no reason to believe there's serious damage. Other than that, it's mostly cuts and bruises for her. How are you doing Greg?"

"I'm okay, I guess," Greg was relieved to hear the news on Sara, "my neck hurts; I have a minor case of whiplash. And I have a huge bruise across my chest from the seatbelt locking up. I cracked a rib too."

Grissom sighed, "So what exactly happened?"

"We were sitting at a light and this car going the opposite direction swerved into us. I don't know why," Greg explained.

"So how are you holding up? I mean this was your first night back at work and you were in an accident…" Grissom trailed off.

"I'm seriously beginning to think that someone is trying to send me a message that I should not be doing this job," Greg joked.

"Are you really okay?" Grissom was serious.

Greg nodded, "Yeah I think I'm okay. The accident wasn't really related to work. It wasn't fun, but it could've happened any time."

"Unfortunately it just so happened to be your first night back at work. I guess you'll be taking some more time off now," Grissom shook his head, "and Sara too. Our shift was already so short handed."

"Have you visited Sara yet?" Greg questioned.

"Not yet, I wanted to stop in and see you first, I figured you were going nuts in here," Grissom explained, "they're usually not very helpful about giving you information."

"Thanks. You can go see her now if you'd like," Greg told him, "talk to her and see how she is."

"All right, I'll stop back by and see you later," Grissom stood to leave.

Greg leaned back into his pillow, suddenly very tired. The night's events had caught up with him. All he wanted to do now was sleep, but his mind could not stop replaying the accident.

A/N: Okay, it took me a while to get this chapter just right. I think I will have one more update coming fairly soon. I just want you all to know I appreciate those of you who have stuck with this story. You have to be patient with me now; finals are coming up in the second week of May. And I have just received a position as a color analyst on a Colorado Avalanche hockey site. So I might be a bit busy, but I promise to not just leave you hanging right here, I will work on getting a new chapter up before the end of April.


	12. What Happened?

Chapter 12

Grissom knocked lightly on the door that he had been directed to. It was propped open, but he wanted to announce his presence anyway. As he stepped into the room, Sara was laying in the hospital bed, looking more fragile than he had ever seen her.

"Hey," he said softly, at a loss for what to say.

"Grissom," she said.

"Sara, how are you doing?" he moved closer to the bed.

"My head hurts," she admitted, "it's hard to think right now. And I'm so tired."

"That's all pretty normal for a concussion," Grissom told her, "but it sounds like it's not a severe injury."

"I'll try and be glad about that when my head isn't hurting so bad," Sara said.

Grissom smiled at her attempt at a joke, "Greg is doing okay, by the way. He's got minor whiplash, a nasty bruise and a broken rib. I talked to him, he was worried about you."

"Gris, what happened tonight? I can't remember, I don't know if it's because of my head or what, but I can't remember," Sara sounded worried now.

"We were all processing a crime scene, a bank robbery. You and Greg left to log your evidence into the lab and analyze security tapes. On the way back, traffic was heavy, and you guys were hit when you were sitting at a light. Any of that sound familiar?" he asked.

"No, but my mind is so hazy right now," she sighed.

"I can leave you if you need to sleep," Grissom offered.

"I am tired," Sara nodded.

"Okay, well I will leave you alone then," he turned to leave.

"I hate hospitals," she muttered.

"What?" Grissom turned around.

"I just said I hate hospitals," she repeated.

"I know, it's a miserable place to be," he put in, "but if you make it through the rest of the night okay, you should be released. They just have to observe you to make sure you're not hiding a serious injury."

"I can't wait to go home. To sleep in my own bed. Thanks for stopping to check on me though. And letting me know what happened," she managed a half-smile.

"You're welcome. Get some rest Sara, I'll come see you tomorrow, if you'd like," he offered.

"Okay," Sara replied, clearly half-asleep by now.

Grissom returned to the waiting room where the rest of the CSI night crew was awaiting news of their friends. They were all clearly holding their breath for him to speak.

"I talked to both of them," Grissom announced, "Greg is doing pretty good. A few minor injuries and Sara…well, I'm a little worried about her. As the doctor said, she hit her head and she just seemed really out of it."

"How long are they going to be here?" Catherine spoke up.

"Greg should be released in a couple hours, they said they're just backed up right now, but he should be good to go. Sara, well they need to observe her and make sure she doesn't have a really severe concussion," he explained.

* * *

Greg was finally asleep, when someone knocked on his door. He forced himself to open his eyes and readjust to the lighting. 

"Sorry to wake you, Mr. Sanders. You're clear to be released. We just have to have you sign a couple forms and then you are out of here," a woman explained.

"Okay," Greg stifled a yawn.

He signed the forms that were handed over to him. Sadly, he already knew what they all said as he had just recently done the whole hospital experience. Just as he was pondering how he was supposed to get home, Catherine showed up.

"Do you need a ride home?" she asked, leaning against the door frame.

"You know I do," Greg shook his head.

"Are you sure you want to go home tonight? My couch is always there if you need it," she offered.

"No, I think I'll be fine," Greg waved off the offer, "I'm not hurt that bad and I will just be sleeping."

"Okay," Catherine shrugged, "if you change your mind, the offer still stands."

"Thanks," he said, slipping his shoes on.

"I suppose you'll want some privacy to put your clothes back on," she started to leave the room.

"Only if you don't want to watch," Greg smirked.

"No, thanks," Catherine shook her head, relieved that he was making jokes.

After a few minutes, the young man appeared in the hallway, ready to go home.

"All right, let's get out of this place," she pushed off the wall.

"You don't think they'd let me visit Sara, do you?" Greg asked suddenly.

"Probably not, from what Grissom says, she's out of it. She's likely sleeping anyway. You need to go home and get some rest. You can see her tomorrow I'm sure," Catherine explained.

"I am tired," Greg nodded.

"It's been a hell of a long day," Catherine admitted, "I can't wait to get home myself."

"Thanks for hanging around to give me a ride, by the way," Greg told her as they got to her waiting vehicle.

"It's not like I was being nice, we drew straws and I lost," Catherine hid her smile from his view.

"Oh gee, that's nice," Greg slid into the passenger's seat.

"Yeah well, when you lose, you lose," she shrugged.

"Ouch Catherine, that hurts," Greg feigned hurt.

"You know I'm joking, right?" Catherine put on her seatbelt.

"Yeah, you're not a very good liar," Greg winced as the seatbelt slid across his tender side, "that did not feel good."

He wanted to remove the seatbelt because as it sat, it was very painful. However, having just been in an accident, there was no way he was willing to go without it. The pain was not as intense as it could be because he was on painkillers anyway.

"You okay?" Catherine glanced sideways at him as she started the engine.

"Can't wait to get home and go to bed," he sighed.

"At least it's a short ride," she pulled out of the parking lot.

"Yeah," Greg was growing paler by the minute.

Catherine was worried, not sure if he was in pain or just reliving the car accident. She could sense that he wanted to be silent, so she avoided further talking. She kept one eye on him as she drove though. He seemed to get better when he squeezed his eyes shut and leaned back in the seat. They made it to his apartment uneventfully and she walked him inside to make sure he was okay. Once she was satisfied he would be settled for the night, she drove home herself.

A/N: There you go. That's probably all for a couple weeks unfortunately. The end of the school year is catching up with me and I have finals in a week or so. I had this one ready a couple days ago, but couldn't get logged in to upload it. Anyway, hope you enjoy this latest chapter.


	13. I'm Really Okay

Chapter 13

It was mid afternoon by the time Greg awoke the next day. At first, he was blissfully unaware of the previous night's events. Then, as he sat up, pain shot through his side. His neck was even more stiff and sore than it had been the night before. His shoulder was knotted up incredibly tight. He sat still on the edge of the bed for a moment, gathering himself.

As he finally was able to stand up, he knew he needed his pain meds. He winced as he tried to remember where he'd put them the previous night. He had been in a mental fog as Catherine had escorted him inside. It actually occurred to him that she had probably been carrying his medicine. She'd only made it to his living room, so it had to be out there.

A shower was out of the question, even though the hot water might be soothing for his poor muscles. He knew that his body was too tired and sore to handle standing up for that long. He forced himself to make it to the living room where his medication sat on the coffee table. He was grateful for that much. As he read the label he saw that he had to eat food with his pills. His stomach took this as a cue to rumble. Cooking was not going to happen so he settled for some frozen waffles.

Greg ate his breakfast in the kitchen and then had to decide what to do. He knew he'd want to go see Sara, but until his pain meds kicked in, he didn't want to move an inch. Finally, he decided he'd go watch TV in the living room. He had to situate himself on the couch so as not to lean against his left side. The broken rib was causing intense pain with each breath, so there was no way he'd chance making it worse.

Not two minutes after he'd settled himself semi-comfortably onto the couch his phone rang.

"Of course," he said aloud, rolling his eyes, "whoever it is better be patient 'cause I'm not running."

The phone was on its fourth ring by the time he managed to reach it, "Hello."

"Hey Greg, how are you doing today?" Catherine asked.

"I was fine until I had to move and answer the phone," he said half-jokingly.

"Sorry," she sounded genuinely apologetic, "you just looked so miserable last night. I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Thanks for your concern, Catherine," he told her, "I'm a hell of a lot more sore today than I was last night. I slept so long my painkillers wore completely off. I regret that, but I ate breakfast and took more so pretty soon, I should be fine."

"Well that's to be expected in an accident. They're violent and sometimes it takes a while for your body to catch up to all that's happened to it. I'm glad you're doing pretty much okay though. I was pretty worried when I heard you two were in an accident. And on your first night back since…" she trailed off suddenly, "I'm sorry. I don't mean to ramble on like this."

"Don't worry. Everyone acts like if they say I was shot, I'll just fall apart. I still struggle with it somewhat, but really I'm okay. It's one of the hazards of my job, I don't like it, but I can live with it," Greg assured her.

"Well that's good. It's nice that you are able to come to terms with this and move on. I'm going to see Sara in about an hour, after I pick Lindsey up from school. Are you interested in tagging along?" Catherine asked.

"She's still in the hospital?" he queried. If he could remember correctly and there was no guaranteeing he could, she was supposed to be potentially released this morning.

"They were a little worried about her mental status this morning. She was still pretty out of it, but Grissom just called me a little while ago and said she's starting to come around more. As long as everything turns out okay with the tests they're doing now, she should be released by tonight," she explained, "with a head injury, you never can be too safe."

"Yeah, I'm definitely interested in joining you," Greg told her.

"Okay, I'll call you when I get there, and I'll call your cell if that won't make you have to get up and run across the room," she offered.

"Thanks, I'll be sure to have it with me this time," he said, "I'll see you in a while."

* * *

As promised, Catherine called him about an hour later from outside his house. Greg slid into her SUV, where again he wrestled with the location of the seatbelt. He wasn't taking the chance of not wearing one, yet it was really painful. The ride to the hospital was short, but it was painfully long to Greg whose side was throbbing.

He was more than glad to free himself of the seatbelt and was actually fairly anxious to see Sara. Since she'd passed out in the car, he hadn't been able to talk to her and it would be good to see her. He wanted to hear her own voice to reassure him that she was okay.

Catherine led him to the room she had been staying in, bypassing the information desk. Just as they approached her door, Gil Grissom made his way out.

"Oh, hello," Grissom nodded to his two coworkers, "Greg how are you feeling?"

"Very sore, but mostly okay," Greg explained.

"Good," Grissom gave him a half-smile, "Sara's awake and coherent. They're planning on releasing her soon, but she has to stay with someone."

"Oh I bet she'll love that," Greg said.

"I'm going to let her stay with me," Catherine started.

"What about me?" Greg asked.

"Well no offense, but you're not in proper shape to be having houseguests who need to be looked after like she does. Think about it, how long it took you to answer my phone call and all," Catherine explained.

"You're right," Greg agreed, turning to enter Sara's room.

Sara was sitting up in the bed, looking slightly beat up from the accident, but otherwise fine. She smiled when she saw Greg enter, though she noted how slow and careful his stride was. Catherine was just behind him and she smiled at the brunette. Greg took a seat at the side of the bed and Catherine chose to stand near the foot of the bed.

"Hi Sara," Catherine greeted her.

"Hello," Sara returned.

"How are you?" Greg asked.

"Feeling much better than last night," she said, "though my entire body is very sore. In fact, it feels like I've been in a car accident."

Greg smiled at her attempted joke, "Yeah I know the feeling."

"Did Grissom tell you they're about ready to release you?" Catherine asked.

"Yes, and also that I have to stay with someone," Sara sighed, "I feel fine now; I don't know why I can't go home alone."

"You may feel okay right now, but think about when you have to stand for a while and cook yourself dinner. Trust me, you're going to want some rest," Greg told her.

"I suppose, but I think I'd feel better if I was able to go rest in my own bed," Sara crossed her arms in a rather childish manner.

"It's only going to be for a couple days," Catherine said, "I don't mind taking you in until you feel better. Besides, either you come home with me, or Greg here is liable to come stay with you. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't trust him to stay with me when I've got a head injury."

Sara laughed, "Good point. Thank you Catherine."

"What am I invisible?" Greg asked, "I can hear everything you say you know, I'm not deaf."

"I know," Catherine grinned, "exactly why I said what I did."

"If I wasn't depending on you for a ride, I'd be out of here right now," Greg glared, "when I get better, you won't be able to have so much fun with me. Just wait until the next case we work together."

"Threatening superiors eh? Not the best idea Greg," Sara jumped in.

"Oh sure, everyone pick on Greg," he faked a few sniffles.

"Now that is pitiful," Sara laughed, "the most pitiful fake crying I've ever seen that is."

Catherine was glad to hear the two CSIs were in such a joking mood. It meant that they were both in fact feeling much better. At this point, a doctor entered the room and announced that Sara was clear to go home. Sara's face fell when they rolled a wheelchair into her room.

"You're kidding," she said.

"Nope, we can't have you getting dizzy and falling on your way out of here, Miss Sidle. It's only until you get out to the car, then you will be free to walk when you get home. Now, you are having someone stay with you, correct?" the doctor asked.

"I'm staying with her," she gestured to Catherine.

"Good, then be sure and get some rest. You'll have to take some time off work. Once you're feeling better, you should be able to go back, but please take it easy for a few weeks. Your body needs some time to just recuperate," the doctor explained.

"I'll see to it that she rests," Catherine assured the doctor.

A/N: Wow, let me start off by apologizing. I had in no way intended for there to be such a long break between chapters. I don't know why that keeps happening with this story. Thank you a million times to whoever is still reading and putting up with me and my lack of updates. With any luck, the next chapter will be ready to go by Monday, but don't hold me to that. I think I am finally back in my groove with this story and it shouldn't be a year between updates!

Special thanks to Andrew-Squee who actually sparked me to write this chapter.


	14. So Tired

Chapter 14 

Sara was too tired when she arrived at Catherine's home to argue the fact that she needed lots of rest. They had dropped Greg off at his apartment and Catherine helped Sara get settled in before she had to head off to work. Lindsey was home for the time being and she worked on her homework, while keeping an ear out for Sara. Her mom had told her that she might need to assist Sara with dinner, but that otherwise, she should be left to rest.

The evening was uneventful and Lindsey almost felt guilty waking Sara up to see if she was hungry.

"Sara?" she said knocking lightly on the door.

"Hmm?" came Sara's tired reply.

"I'm making dinner, I was just wondering if you wanted something to eat?" Lindsey explained.

"You know, I am pretty hungry," Sara nodded.

"Okay, I'm making vegetable soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, if that's all right with you?" Lindsey said.

"Sounds fine to me," Sara yawned, "I'll come out to the living room in a few minutes."

"It shouldn't take too long for the soup to heat up," Lindsey turned and left.

Sara sat up slowly, wincing at the wave of pain the motion brought with it. She sat still for a moment and the dizziness and pain passed, but she was suddenly very glad she was not staying alone. She knew she would have gone hungry if not for someone cooking for her. There's no way she'd try standing up long enough to cook anything for herself. Sara made her way carefully out to the living room where Lindsey already sat with two bowls of steaming soup and a plate with sandwiches on it.

"I was going to watch a movie, but first, what do you want to drink?" Lindsey asked.

"Just a glass of water will be fine," Sara said.

"Okay, I'll be right back," Lindsey smiled and disappeared into the kitchen.

Sara was grateful to make it to the couch without falling or feeling too dizzy. She mostly felt the head rush when she first stood up and otherwise it was okay. Her head was still throbbing with pain, but it was time to take her pain medicine with her meal anyway. She could live with a bad headache for a couple days. More than anything she was glad that she and Greg had made it out of the accident relatively unharmed.

"Have you seen _Pirates of the Caribbean_?" Lindsey asked as she sat down.

"No, I actually don't go out to too many movies," Sara admitted.

"Oh, it's such a good movie. Johnny Depp is so hot," Lindsey smiled as she put the DVD into the player, "I think you'll enjoy it."

* * *

"So how was she doing?" Nick asked his supervisor.

"She pretty much went right to sleep," Catherine said.

"Good, she needs her rest," Warrick nodded, "and how about Greg? The poor kid just doesn't seem to have an end to his bad luck."

"He was doing fine. He was clearly sore, but he was cracking jokes with Sara left and right. I think they'll both be okay after some rest and time to heal," Catherine told them.

"Good. Because Greg especially could have taken this very hard," Nick said.

"I know," she sighed, "oh, and before you get your minds set on going home…all three of us get to pull a double and help out graveyard. As of now they've just got Grissom and Sofia. Ecklie didn't give me a choice to let either one of you go home. I know you've already worked some doubles recently, but I would really appreciate it if you just go along with it."

Warrick's face fell, "Oh joy. More overtime."

"Look on the bright side, maybe Ecklie will come to his senses and just put us all back on grave," Nick shrugged.

"I thought I would enjoy being supervisor, and it's not that you two are living terrors or anything, but I think I'd rather have the whole team back together. Working that bank scene together before they got into an accident…it just felt right," Catherine said.

"I know what you mean," Warrick agreed, "we're like a big family and it's just weird barely seeing those other guys anymore."

"I guess we better head to the break room because Grissom's going to be handing out assignments soon," Nick stood up from his seat across from Catherine.

* * *

After a very long shift, Catherine finally arrived home the next morning. She was going to head directly to bed, forgoing the shower until this evening when she spotted that the TV was on a blue screen. Moving closer, she found that Sara and Lindsey were asleep on the couch, dishes scattered on the coffee table, the DVD remote on Lindsey's lap. 

"So much for rest," she shook her head.

Lindsey jumped up at her mother's quiet words, "Mom! What time is it?"

"About 5AM, I had to work a double, but I got off a little early," she yawned, "I was off to bed when I spotted you two on the couch here."

"We were watching _Pirates of the Caribbean_ last night, I guess we fell asleep," Lindsey grinned sheepishly.

"I thought I said to let Sara rest," Catherine raised an eyebrow. She wasn't really looking to punish Lindsey, she was just curious as to the explanation.

"I did, but then I made dinner and she said she was hungry. So we started the movie while we were eating. She wanted to watch it with me; I didn't think it was that big of a deal. It's not like watching a move is physical or anything," Lindsey defended.

"Fair enough, you might as well move to your own bed now," Catherine suggested.

"Okay, goodnight Mom," Lindsey hugged her mother before disappearing.

Catherine turned to head for her own bed, but turned back at the last second. She grabbed the throw off the back of the couch and spread it over Sara's sleeping form. She smiled as she realized that this was a very motherly gesture. The brunette didn't even stir, so Catherine headed for bed because she was exhausted and probably in for another long shift.

Catherine didn't even bother changing out of her work clothes. She just closed the blinds, to prevent the sunlight from disturbing her sleep and slid under the covers. Tired as she was, she couldn't fall asleep right away. Instead, she lie awake for a while, thoughts of the last several weeks running through her mind. The team gets split up first, then Greg gets shot, then he quits, then he gets better, then he starts work again, then he gets into a car accident with Sara. Everyone was working overtime to help out on the pitifully shorthanded graveyard shift. There were a lot of things for the CSIs to take and yet everyone seemed to be handling it fairly well. Catherine was surprised that no one really suffered a mental breakdown or anything like that. Considering the mental stress they were all under, it was a small wonder they were keeping it together so well.

She'd had her own problems outside work too. Lindsey was acting up in school and always angry at her mother at home. The extra hours Catherine was working hadn't been helping their tense situation either. Only the news of Sara and Greg's car accident had managed to forge a truce between them. Lindsey sensed that her mom was under a lot of stress and Catherine decided not to nitpick at every little thing. So far, it was working and they were not at each other's throats. Lindsey seemed to be calming down at school and staying out of trouble. As Catherine finally drifted towards sleep, she hoped that this calm in their stormy relationship would last.

A/N: Yeah I know, not a lot of interesting stuff in this chapter. It was more of a filler. I think the story will come to a close pretty soon and I won't tell you if it's a happy ending or not. Oh and as an aside...I was watching _Pirates _and eating grilled cheese and vegetable soup when I wrote this lol.

PS: Oh I know how poor Greg felt when the chair fell over and made a loud noise in a prior chapter and he thought it was a gunshot. I was sitting with my dog and reading when the heating element in our dishwasher exploded. I thought it was a gunshot (because last week there was unfortunately a shooting on my street, so I know the sound too well). My heart was pounding a mile a minute for a while after that.


	15. That Was a Hell of a Stupid Entrance

Chapter 15

Sara was getting restless and wanted to go home the next day. It was nothing against Catherine and Lindsey, they were very kind hosts, but Sara wanted to sleep in her own bed. She still felt lightheaded when she tried to stand for very long though so she knew she was in for a longer stay with Catherine. Just as Catherine was about to head off to work, the doorbell rang.

"Nick, Greg, hi," she opened the door wider so that the pair could enter.

"I hope you don't mind us droppin' by," Nick started.

"Of course not," Catherine said.

"Good, I thought I could come stay with Sara tonight, keep her company," Greg explained.

"That's a great idea," Catherine agreed.

Greg moved over to the couch and tried to pull off a cool move by jumping over the back to sit next to Sara. He managed to land it, but clearly he realized it was a bad idea when he hit the soft cushions with a jolt. His breath was knocked out of him and his ribs cried out with the pain of his stupid move.

"That was a hell of a stupid entrance," Sara snickered after the color returned to Greg's face.

"I forgot for a minute there about the whole being in a car accident thing. Trust me, from now on, I'll take it easy until I feel 100," Greg assured the others.

"Yeah, you better," Nick shook his head, "I don't want to sound like your mother, but I'll take you home if you don't behave."

"Nick I'm sorry, but no matter what you say, you can never be motherly," Sara snickered.

"Don't worry, I'll be good," Greg winked, "until you two have to go to work."

"Lindsey will still be here," Catherine reminded him, "so if you misbehave too much, she can always call us at work. And I _can_ sound motherly because I _am_ a mother."

"Yes ma'am," Greg saluted her sarcastically.

"If you weren't seriously hurt right now, that would so not fly," Catherine warned him, "but you are so I'll have to remember to get you back later."

"I'll be looking forward to it," Greg grinned.

"Anyway, I think we better get going, Grissom said he was pulling a double today and he wanted to talk with us before shift," Nick said, "something about a new mandate from Ecklie."

"What?" Catherine was confused for a moment, "Oh. Right I remember. Let's go."

As soon as Greg and Sara were left alone, he turned to her, "So what the heck do you suppose that was?"

"What?" Sara asked.

"You didn't find that little exchange odd. Nick saying they had a meeting and she had no idea what he was talking about," Greg explained.

"Yeah, I'm sure they're up to something suspicious," Sara shrugged, "but let's not worry about it right now. I'm just seriously glad to have some company. Lindsey is great and all, but I know a teenager doesn't want to hang out with me all night."

"It's not like we're going to have a wild party," Greg started, "neither one of us in shape for that."

"Because when I'm healthy, I'm such a party animal," Sara laughed.

"You might not be, but I am," Greg told her, "come on Sara, you know that."

"Anyway, it's not an option, so what are we going to do all night?" Sara asked.

"Sleep? It's what normal people do," Greg suggested.

"Oh please, you did not come over here to sleep," Sara shook her head.

"You're right," Greg pulled something out of his back pocket, "I brought a deck of cards. Maybe Lindsey will join us for a game of poker."

"Catherine will love us teaching her teenage daughter how to play poker," Sara rolled her eyes.

"Who says she doesn't already know how," Greg raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know what?" Lindsey appeared, curiosity piqued when she overheard their discussion.

"How to play poker," Greg said.

"They play it all the time at school," Lindsey shrugged, "I personally find it boring, but have you guys ever played Bullshit?"

"Lindsey!" Sara gasped.

"Relax Sara, it's a real game," she laughed, "I'll tell you how to play."

* * *

Nick, Warrick and Catherine met up in her new supervisor's office and waited for Grissom to show up. It was true that he was working a double and he wanted to speak to them, but they already knew what it was about. It was just a matter of formality. It didn't take long for the graveyard supervisor to show up.

"Hi guys," Grissom greeted his old friends.

"Hey Griss," Warrick returned.

"As you know, the grave shift is dreadfully shorthanded with Greg and Sara out of commission. Sofia is not happy at all with her placement and I can't handle the load by myself, so I spoke with Ecklie last night," Grissom began.

"Yeah, everyone knows you went to see Ecklie," Nick put in.

"Anyway," Grissom continued, "I told him that he needed to put more people back on grave and that Sofia deserved to be supervisor of days. Being the ass that he is, he didn't exactly cooperate. I got you guys back, but he moved poor Sofia to swing shift. We all work a double tonight and then assuming the caseload slows down, we're all back to regular graveyard shifts after that."

"All right!" Nick and Warrick high-fived.

"Honestly, I'm relieved," Catherine smiled, "I really missed all of us working together and the bank case the other night, it felt really good to be on one case."

Grissom nodded his agreement, "I'm a mess without you keeping on my tail. Which reminds me, Ecklie still felt that I deserved punishment for poor supervisory skills and I got a sort of demotion."

"What do you mean?" Nick asked.

"He put Catherine back on grave with the stipulation that we would be co-supervisors," Grissom explained.

"Well that's not so bad," Warrick said, "I mean, the demotion for you is bad, but it could have been a lot worse."

"We're going to have to have a little celebration after shift," Catherine suddenly suggested, "Greg and Sara are back at my place, so we can go have a little party. To celebrate that we'll all be back together again. This is not optional, this is a supervisor-mandated activity too."

Everyone laughed at Catherine's mandate, though she made it clear she was not really joking. They all needed a little break to have some fun and relax after the stressful time they'd all been having lately.

* * *

A/N: Wow. I don't know why this story keeps getting neglected. It's so not intentional and I understand if you're mad. It's just that every time I start to get into the groove, I get major intense writer's block. This story has seriously haunted me for a long time. Have no fear, this time it is finished. I swore I would not post more updates unless the story was completed so it wouldn't be left hanging again forever. I learned from my mistakes with this story and my new story Broken was not posted until it was nearly finished (and it is done now, just being posted one chapter a day). Thank you to anyone who actually hung in there with me while I struggled with this one. The final chapter to this story will be posted within the next day or so. 


	16. I Just Wanted to Say Thanks

Chapter 16

Lindsey left the CSIs alone after a few rounds of Bullshit so that she could go to her room and actually get some studying done. Greg and Sara played some other card games until they got bored and settled into the couch for some good old fashioned channel surfing.

"Do you realize how little quality programming there is?" Greg asked after a while.

"Yes, that's why I don't watch much television," Sara yawned.

"Are you tired?" Greg asked.

"No I just yawn for fun," Sara said.

"I just wondered if I was keeping you awake. We do have to sleep at some point tonight," Greg set the remote down, settling for some documentary on Discovery channel.

"I'm a big girl, I can go to bed when I'm tired," Sara smiled, "but thank you for your concern."

"You _do_ have a head injury," Greg reminded her, "so your judgment is not to be fully trusted right now."

"Whether I got my head whacked or not, I still know when I'm tired," Sara smacked him.

"Okay, I know when to back off," Greg shrugged as they settled in to watch the show.

Not twenty minutes later, Sara had nodded off, but Greg was still wide awake. He turned the TV off and pushed her gently over on the couch to a more comfortable position. He knew he would not be able to sleep until after he took his pain medications anyway. He still felt a dull ache in his side from the evening's earlier idiotic entrance. He slipped into Catherine's kitchen and made himself a little snack to eat with his medicine and then opted to wake Sara up and let her move to the bedroom.

"Hey Sara," he gently shook her, "wake up."

"Now there's an unpleasant sight to wake up to," she teased.

"Gee, I guess I should have left you asleep on the couch and took the bed for myself," Greg sighed.

"Thanks for waking me up," she slowly sat up and made her way to the bedroom, "see you in the morning."

"See ya," he waved and turned the TV back on as he lay on the couch.

* * *

After their double shift was over, Grissom, Catherine, Nick and Warrick stopped off at the diner to pick up everyone's favorite foods. Then they followed Catherine to her home to surprise their two friends with the good news. As they entered her house, they were greeted with a cry of "Bullshit!"

"What the?" Grissom furrowed his brow.

Catherine groaned, "Lindsey must have taught them to play Bullshit."

"What's Bullshit?" Nick asked.

"Card game," Warrick explained, "you try to bluff your opponents and when they think you're full of it, they call Bullshit."

"Children I'm home and I brought friends," Catherine announced teasingly.

Greg turned around, "Wow, everybody is here."

"Hi guys," Sara smiled at the sight of all her friends.

"We brought food," Grissom waved the carryout containers he held.

"Sweet, I'm starving," Greg announced.

"Oh sure, bail out on me when I just caught you in a big lie," Sara shook her head.

"It has nothing to do with that, I'm genuinely hungry," Greg laughed, "besides maybe later we can teach all these guys to play and we can smoke them since we've had more practice."

"I've got you beat, I've been playing for weeks," Catherine put in, "Lindsey learned that game at school and she brought some friends over and taught me to play."

"Greg is not that good at it," Lindsey told her mother, "he just likes to think he is."

"Thanks, just the boost my self esteem needed," Greg chuckled, "seriously people, let's get to the food."

Everyone moved to Catherine's kitchen where they dished up their meals and then moved to her backyard where she had a picnic table. Not everyone fit, so they pulled a couple of extra chairs to the ends of the table. Lindsey took her food inside as she had to be to school soon.

"Before everyone digs in, I have an announcement to make," Grissom got their attention.

Warrick, Nick and Catherine exchanged knowing looks but kept quiet. Greg and Sara exchanged their own look which said, "Told you they were up to something." Grissom ignored them all and continued.

"I managed to convince Conrad that the lab would be better off if our graveyard shift was reunited," Grissom smiled, "starting next shift, we're all back together. Catherine and I will act as co-supervisors and when you two get healthy we'll be a real team again."

"You're kidding," Sara said.

"Nope," Grissom assured her, "Ecklie doesn't like it, but I do hold some power over him. I basically told him that he would screw up the lab if he didn't do what I was asking and as soon as he started to mess it up, I would leave. Like it or not, I think he knows he could still lose his new position if he messes things up too badly. My punishment for poor supervising is that Catherine will take half the duties and I do get a pay cut, but I don't really mind. As long as all of us get to work together as one because we do work best that way."

"I couldn't agree more," Greg lifted his glass in a toast.

The CSIs raised their glasses and clinked them together. They joked with one another as they ate their meal.

"I don't think I'll be able to stay away from the lab for too much longer," Sara announced.

"Oh?" Grissom raised an eyebrow, "because I distinctly recall you being told to take it easy for a few weeks."

"No offense to Catherine, who has been very kind to let me stay with her, but I cannot keep doing this," Sara said, "I understand that you don't want me in the field until my head injury is better, but I can at least come to the lab and do some work. I am not one of those people who can sit around at home and watch TV all day."

"I'm with her," Greg agreed, "I don't want to spend too much more time away from work. It's boring."

"Well, I'll see what I can do, but you're not coming back at least until next week," Grissom said, "you two _were_ in a car accident and you will never heal if you push yourselves too hard."

"Yes father," Greg rolled his eyes.

Sara smiled, "No Grissom's right this time, Greg. Both of us should take it easy for a couple more days."

"As much as we miss the two of you, we'll survive for a couple more days without you," Nick said.

"Yeah," Warrick agreed, "it sure helps that Ecklie let us all back onto graveyard. We were basically working that shift anyway with all the doubles we had to pull."

"Speaking of, I'm pretty tired," Catherine leaned back in her chair.

"It's probably about time for us to be heading home anyway," Nick said.

"I just want to go take a shower and go to bed," Grissom yawned.

"Thanks for having us over to your home, Cath," Warrick rose off the bench.

Everyone thanked their gracious host and Sara decided that it was high time she returned to her own apartment. She was feeling much better and being in her own home would certainly help the healing process. Nick decided to give both the injured CSIs a ride home. He dropped Sara off first, and Greg helped her carry her belongings inside while Nick waited for him to return.

"Hey Sara," Greg said, setting her bag down.

"Yeah?" she turned to face him.

"I just wanted to say thanks," he blushed, "for everything. You have been an amazing friend to me lately and I really appreciate it."

Sara smiled, "You're welcome."

Greg hugged her, "If it wasn't for you, I would probably be looking for a job right now. Instead our team is about to be reunited and hopefully I'll be able to keep learning how to be a good CSI."

"You will," Sara told him, "I'll make sure of it."

* * *

A/N: Hopefully this ending is not a disappointment to you. I really had a hard time trying to figure out how to end this story, but I knew it had to be done. It was left hanging for far too long and I know that's not fair to those of you who were reading it. I guess sometimes life gets in the way and sometimes stories get posted too soon (before you really know where it's going to go). I learned from this story to be a bit more careful and to have stories laid out before I post them. I hope you all enjoyed the read. 


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